Shocking confession sends young priest on moral journey

** STAR RATING | Drama

In "Into Temptation," a young priest listens to a confession more pre- than than post-transgression. In fact, the latter would be positively supernatural.

After all, the confessor with the distinctive voice, the full mouth and the delicate crucifix hanging above her showy cleavage plans to kill herself.

Jeremy Sisto (Detective Cyrus Lupo on "Law & Order,") sets out on a different kind of investigation as Father John Buerlein. Before he can persuade the stranger to stay, she bolts. And so his moral journey begins.

The actress with the distinctive voice playing the determined prostitute is Tony-winner Kristin Chenoweth.

Father John's legwork takes him to nudie shows in a red-light district. He'll have meetings with a chatty self-employed prostitute, a suave pimp and other night owls. It shouldn't be lost on the audience that these are the denizens of a certain kind of ministry. There's also a tart librarian and a rather odd cab driver.

His search will force him to break rules, confess doubts to fellow priest and friend Father Ralph O'Brien (Brian Baumgartner of "The Office"). Confidence in his calling will be rattled. The arrival of his ex-love Nadine, played with vivacity by Amy Matthews, won't ease matters.

Judging by its size, St. Mary Magdalen's once was a thriving church. Now it's sparsely attended and doubles as a homeless mission, too.

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Father John punches the heavy bag after hours, swigs a beer now and again, even gives unorthodox advice to a young parishioner worried about his sexuality.

Sisto is winning as Father John. He has given him a sweet habit of slightly bobbing and weaving during his homily. It's not a fighter's stance so much as nerves.

In the notes for his sophomore feature, writer-director Patrick Coyle grasps a problem. "The film . . . is so much better than the script," he writes. It is "the collaboration of gifted, passionate people."

"Into Temptation" doesn't break ground as a story, even one about redemption. Even so, Coyle's understanding of the pastoral work of the parish priest is refreshing.

The film has a gentle, persistent tug, thanks greatly to Sisto and Chenoweth, seldom in the same frame. Prone to bubble and percolate, Chenoweth is all chill and simmer. She's taut. Her cheeks hollow. Her wounded character an underplayed force.

Bruce A. Young's presence as Lloyd, a parishioner who aids Father John, is quietly attune.

A playwright turned director, Coyle has a way with actors worth paying heed to. He also got a spare score with a beguiling jazz piano riff from Russell Holsapple.

Tonight, he'll be at a special 7 o'clock screening of "Into Temptation" at the Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli on the Auraria campus.